Hampshire are in a healthy position after moving to the Rose Bowl

He believes the number of first-class counties should be reduced from 18 to 14, to be split into two divisions of seven, to ease the England and Wales Cricket Board's financial burden.

But Bransgrove is also backing the establishment of a new third division of semi-professional county clubs.

His proposal offers an alternative to the view of former ECB chairman Lord MacLaurin, who says a third of the 18 clubs must go because of cash problems called by falling TV revenues.

He has warned that unless action was taken cricket could become like croquet - "a summer sport that was".

MacLaurin calls for cuts

Bransgove also criticised the current structure of the county game which he claims is there to "protect the weak, not grow the strong".

He told BBC Radio Solent: "There is a problem with the finances of cricket as a whole at the moment and it does need to be addressed, probably at a central level."

Bransgrove said his proposal would "increase the number of competitive cricket clubs but decrease the financial imposition on the centre of the game."

He acknowledged, however, that the chances of his proposals being implemented were "zero or lower" but the counties had some hard choices to make in the coming months.

MacLaurin has sounded a dire warning about the game's future

Any proposal to reduce the number of first-class counties, including the possibility of some of them merging, is unlikely to gain widespread support.

Somerset chairman Giles Clarke told the Daily Telegraph: "Any change of structure would be fiercely resisted in every area.

"If football hasn't had to do it, I don't see why cricket should."

And David Graveney, the chairman of the England's selectors and an official of the Professional Cricketers' Association, thinks 18 county clubs is sustainable for the time being.

But he accepts the need for urgent talks to discuss the current situation.

"All I want is all the stakeholders to get round a table at the same time, that's the counties, that's the ECB, Team England, PCA [players' union], and let's see what the best course of action is for the game."